Nonentity
by Kiwi Lee Scipio
Summary: When Vlad Masters got thrown into the Ghost Zone by his wife in Masters of all Time he was supposed to disappear, what if he survived the correction Clockwork did and made it back to the normal timeline? Takes place right after Eye for an Eye.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Green

Black

A purple speck here and there

Gravity no longer held the man to any type of ground as he floated through this expanse of nothingness.

After the ghosts had attacked him, they had left him a bit bruised and battered, his tailored suit a bit ragged now.

A flush of anger crossed his face as he remembered the events that got him floating in this ghostly realm. That stupid child ruined everything. He had the love of his life with him for eighteen wonderful years.

Though without that young Daniel, he would've had no clue as to how far his wife had been trying to keep secret her love for the paranormal. It didn't surprise him that Maddie still wanted to invent and study. They had met because of ghosts after all.

But eighteen years she had been experimenting behind his back. Eighteen years of cover-ups and excuses. What else did she lie about?

Purple doors almost hit the man floating through the green expanse, but with no way to propel himself anywhere, the best he could do was try and duck.

Jack Fenton. How could she still love, no, how could she even love him? He was a bumbling idiot! Even before the accident. Add the accident and he became an idiot with ghost powers. Was she in love with him this whole time? In love with a hybrid of something that shouldn't even exist.

Oh great, another ghost. Though this one didn't come close to the human as the others had. She floated away, eyeing the man but keeping her distance.

And Daniel. He was one just like Jack, wasn't he? Had to be. Maddie pieced it together while the human had been eavesdropping.

The human remembered seeing Jack fly through his house, no doubt following the child. He knew the ghost was going towards Maddie's not so secret lab. Who knows what the woman was thinking when she thought she could build that in secret. The human had grown up half his life in the mansion. A curse of his parents at first to be already named the Wisconsin Dairy Prince since his uncle had been the King prior to him. But with living in the mansion for so long he knew every nook, every secret way through the walls, and every add on after that.

Daniel had to be stupid as well. He had claimed to be Jack's son after all. Anyone one would have to be crazy to say that they were related in any way to that buffoon.

Of course that was assuming Daniel's story to be true. How did he survive jumping universes. He couldn't exist. Jack never married, though yes, the human knew that didn't rule out any children but who would be stupid or blind enough not to notice he was half ghost, and Maddie never had had kids. Not with him nor any other man.

How did things go so sour so quickly? The human smiled as he remembered yesterday morning. He and Maddie were attending Wisconsin's annual cheese contest, judges of course. They had had the most wonderful time with only one cheese not tasting up to par. The two had dressed down for the occasion, knowing it was just a fair and not anything really big. Actually the fair was still going on. Who would take his place as Dairy King? He assumed Maddie would now that he was no longer able to get back. She was still the Dairy Queen, even though she had to go by a longer title due to copyright issues.

If only he could go back to yesterday afternoon. He would have made sure Daniel didn't stay. He knew he would hate himself for denying Maddie her want to be hospitable but he could live with himself for that. That would have just been a petty fight and he knew his Maddie would love him by the next morning.

But no, he had to let the boy stay the night cause of his love for his wife. And the bumbling oaf had followed him.

At least his Maddie couldn't go to Jack. He accomplished that at least.

"Argh!" the human exclaimed, surprised at the pull of gravity. He closed his eyes as he felt the cold of cement present itself to the side of his face.

"Vladdy?"

The human groaned, thinking he was sure he had killed the man the voice belonged to. He found himself being picked up off the ground and helped to his feet. He looked up to see the owner of the voice to his left and his wife on his right. "Jack. Maddie. Help."

Vlad will admit, he was acting a bit dramatic, but he couldn't form a story to tell them without knowing enough about the universe he now was in. He loosened any remainder strength he had and closed his eyes, pretending to have lost consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Vlad felt the two carry him up one set of stairs only to go up another. Basement to second floor, he presumed.

"You think Phantom did this?" Maddie whispered.

"If he did, we'll be ready for him." Jack growled.

Vlad was brought into a room and laid down on a bed. Seconds ticked by from the clock on the wall and soon enough he was alone.

Vlad sat up, opening his eyes to take in the room he was in was sparsely decorated that held only necessary pieces of furniture. A guest room. So Vlad was considered a friend by Jack still. And maybe as well by Maddie.

A shiver ran through-out Vlad's back at the thought of his Maddie.

"So what happened this time?" a smart-allic sounding voice echoed through the guest room. It laughed as it continued, "The Kraken finally got its revenge for you destroying his home?"

"Show yourself." Vlad ordered. The voice sounding familiar to the man but he couldn't place it.

"What, forgot my voice already?" before Vlad's eyes Daniel's ghost form materialized. He floated about a foot off the ground and now that the man wasn't fighting the boy, he noticed how white his aura was. Surprising in a ghost for it to be that pure.

"So what happened this time?" Daniel repeated his question, crossing his arms over his chest to take Vlad's mind away from his study.

"I have no clue as to what you are talking about, my dear boy." Vlad said, swinging his feet off the side of the bed only for his eyes to catch sight of his tattered clothes. Futter Nutters! In all that his mind had been processing he had cleanly forgotten his cloths had been ruined.

"You're starting to show your age, V-Man." Daniel smirked.

Vlad sighed at the use of Jack's college nickname. "Very well, I was attacked." He admitted, knowing it was obvious to even this teenage boy.

Daniel rolled his eyes, a very drôle teenage action. "Just remember, I'm watching you. I know what your ultimate plans are."

"I highly doubt you do." Vlad found himself laughing at the thought of this boy figuring anything out.

Daniel turned blue-ish in color before flying through the wall he was closest to.

Vlad reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out an emergency sowing kit. He stood up and sat the small box down on the dresser. Taking off his jacket to repair the slight cut on the shoulder he found himself working things out in his mind.

His mind went back twenty years to the accident that gave Jack his ghost powers.

Since, in this realm, Jack and Maddie seemed married, Vlad found himself assuming Jack didn't end up with the ecto-acne.

Vlad paused, the needle halfway through the cloth he was repairing. For the first time in twenty years he found himself wondering what pushed him out of the proto-portal's blast.

Vlad remembered he had been observing the small device, worried if the welding job he had finished the night before would hold. Jack had called out some stupid cry and the next thing the man remembered was being pushed to the floor.

Vlad looked at his face in the mirror in front of himself. In this universe, he was the one the proto-portal had blasted. He had ended up with the ecto-acne. He had been turned into one of those hybrids.

Vlad scowled at his reflection, disgusted and pity for this universe's Vladimir Masters.

Vlad finished what he could, dissatisfied with the stitching he had done on the hem of his pants.

Remembering he had falsified a fainting action on entry, he held his head a moment or two after walking out of his room and slowly made his way down the stairs.

"Vladdy, there you are." Jack's booming voice got the man's attention towards the kitchen. Daniel and, Vlad presumed, his sister were setting the table around the big oaf. The boy was in the proses of sticking his tongue out at the long red haired girl who replied back with the same action. Maddie had her back turned towards Vlad as she was working on cooking dinner, adding a pinch of seasoning to the fish on the stove. Jack had brought an invention up from the lab to work on, the screw driver still in his hands as he looked at Vlad. "How you doing?"

"Better, thank you." Vlad nodded, straightening his posture.

"We're about to eat dinner. Want to join?" Maddie asked, turning around to see the man step through the threshold.

"A pleasure." Vlad found himself swallowing bile that rose up at the thought of Jack marring her. He walked over and took a seat one away from the big man. He looked up as Maddie placed the fish she had been cooking on the center of the table.

The daughter sat next to Vlad as the man gained a glare from young Daniel from across the table. Vlad smiled back, not stooping to the teenager's level.

"So what happened?" Jack asked as Maddie placed a cheesy rice and broccoli dish on the table before sitting down in between the two men. She took the device Jack was working on and sat it behind her on the counter.

"I'm afraid Phantom did." Vlad said, the back of his mind reminding him he had no clue as to what this Phantom was other than a ghost. He dished out his own food before glancing up across the table.

Daniel scowled at the man as if the he had said the teen himself had been accused of the deed.

"I knew it." Jack said, pounding the fork in his hand into the table. "Once I get my hands on that kid, I'll cut him up molecule by molecule."

Vlad raised a brow at that, remembering he himself had threatened Daniel with those same words just yesterday. Another look at the boy showed he was trying to stuff his face and not listen to his father.

That was it! Phantom was what Daniel called his ghost half. What a terribly boring name. No creativity.

Vlad delicately ate the fish, remembering when his Maddie had cooked the very same dish.

"Now Jack, we'd need to keep some to study." Maddie tried to remind.

"Wouldn't it be better to study him while he's…so to say, still alive?" Vlad asked, almost scaring himself at how easy it was to bring back the scientist from twenty years ago. "You might learn about his unique physic."

"Yes we…" Maddie tapered off. She turned surprised eyes towards Vlad and asked, "Unique physic?"

"Well, I haven't studied him as much as you two have but I assumed he wasn't the same as other ghosts." Vlad hinted, eyeing Daniel to see his reaction. Happy to see horror in the boy's face and a type of disgust in his sister's, he continued. "I've been through the Ghost Zone enough to learn he doesn't live there and actually barely visits the place."

"How is that possible?" Maddie asked, surprised.

"I was hoping you could tell me." Vlad admitted, taking a bite of the childish cheesy mess.

"As much as Jack brags about what we would do, sadly we really don't know much about Phantom." Maddie admitted, worry burning her eyes.

"May I be excused?"

"Finish your broccoli." Maddie reminded, looking over at her son.

Daniel shoved the vegetable into his mouth, barely swallowing before rushing away from the table.

"Would it hurt to actually finish a meal with your family?" Jack called after the boy.

"Don't be too hard on the boy, Jack." Vlad smiled, glad to see some dysfunction in this family that shouldn't exist. "He's only a teenager."

"If it wasn't for the fact he does that every time he's home for dinner." Maddie admitted with a sigh. Having two children has aged her quicker here.

"Let him be a kid a bit longer." The daughter tried, looking at her parents.

"He needs to learn when to just sit." Jack said.

Vlad turned to look at the man with a start. He guessed having two children took some of the child out of him. Maybe this Jack wasn't as much of an idiot as he had thought.

Jack picked up the screwdriver still on the table and scooped up a piece of fish, actually eating it without noticing.

No, he's still the same Jack Fenton. How Maddie fell in love with this idiot, Vlad will never know.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Thank you for letting me spend the night." Vlad said, sipping at the tea in his hand as he sat back in the chair. He looked over at the sofa and saw Jack working on a needle point as Maddie finished the device the idiot couldn't fix. Sitting in the chair on the other side was the daughter, busy with a book.

"Of course, Vladdy." Jack said, turning the needle point so Vlad could see it was of a ghost. "Don't want Phantom to surprise you again."

"What exactly happened?" Maddie asked, looking up from the device with her goggles still on.

"Phantom must have found out that I was planning on searching for his lair." Vlad started, remembering the story he had worked on while Jack had been trying to find the fudge for dessert. "I was working on creating a tracking program when he broke into my home and ended up beating me."

"I hate to point it out, but tracking programs don't work on him." Jack said, looking up from his craft.

"Pardon?" Vlad asked, surprised.

"We don't understand it ourselves." Maddie sighed. "Every time we try to track him, he always disappears."

"Could it-"

An explosion interrupted Vlad, sending the three adults to their feet.

"Jack! Did you forget the Bunsen burner again?!" Maddie exclaimed, pulling the man behind her as they rushed down the stairs.

Vlad sat down his drink on the coffee table as he looked up and noticed he was receiving a glare from the girl above her book.

"What are you trying?" she asked, closing her book to look up at his without distractions.

"You set off the explosion." Vlad stated, raising a brow as he realized the girl wanted to talk to him without her parents. He stood, straightening his back as he looked her over, surprised to see her calm and in control for someone still in high school.

"You won't get us to renounce our Dad." She stated. "And you won't get our Mom, so what are you trying to do?"

"My dear, I'm here to do what no one before me has done." Vlad smiled, putting his hands behind his back. "Succeed."

The door opened, getting the two to turn towards it.

"What's he doing here?" a dark haired girl asked as Daniel was followed by her and another boy his age.

"Does no child today have respect for their elders?" Vlad sighed, assuming these four children were his adversaries. What a petty war the Vlad Masters here was in.

"You don't give us anything to respect." The African American said, narrowing his eyes.

"When would that be my point?" Vlad asked, laughing as he leaned over towards the three. "This time I have a, as you would call, trump card."

"What, Valerie?" Daniel laughed. "She's good, but not that good."

"You don't think he created a real clone, do you?" the dark girl asked, soft enough Vlad almost missed it.

Daniel's eyes shot up at this, turning a glowing green. His hands went ablaze as he looked the man straight in the eyes. "If you harm one hair on Danielle's head-"

"I haven't touched her." Vlad interrupted, understanding Danielle to be a clone the Vlad here no longer held possession of. "Like I said to your sister, I only plan to succeed. I wonder what would happen in I told them your little secret-"

"Then I'll expose you." Daniel crossed his arms, distinguishing the fire as his eyes returned to normal. "We've been through this."

"Ah, but that's where my trump card comes into play." Vlad smiled as he narrowed his eyes. "I've killed Jack once, I can do it again here."

Vlad could have laughed at the faces on the four teens and the fact that three of them looked completely clueless.

"How did you get here?" Daniel asked, pointing a finger at Vlad.

"When my wife threw me-"

"Your wife?!" the African American exclaimed, laughing as he got out of his daze.

Daniel glared at his friend, getting him to quiet.

"As I was saying." Vlad cleared his throat. "After my wife threw me into the Ghost Zone, I believe I flew through a rip in time and space. For me, you ruined my life only yesterday."

"So what do you want from me?"

"Pardon?" Vlad opened his eyes to look at the boy, surprised.

"So you don't go blabbing my secret."

"I don't want anything from you." Vlad laughed as a look of pure horror appeared on the boy's face. "To me, you, your sister, and your father should all be dead."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Danny found himself pacing the floor in his room as his two friends and sister watched on.

"Ok, Danny, spill." Sam said, leaning back on his pillow as she sat on his bed.

"When you two had the ecto-acne, I went to Clockwork." Danny started, not stopping his pacing.

"That was a month ago, man!" Tucker whined. "You need to inform us when things happen and we're not there."

Danny nodded his head, not really taking in what his friend had said as he continued, "I was going to prevent Vlad from gaining the original out brake of ecto-acne, only for Dad to get it and ghost powers with it so Mom ended up marring Vlad."

"Ew?" Jazz injected.

"Anyway, I convinced Mom and Dad of what happened, which Mom over there…" his voice trailed away as he stopped pacing, just realizing it as he said it out loud. "Mom figured out that I was Phantom."

"Well, over there she wouldn't've seen your ghost half as evil." Jazz pointed out. "And if she knew about Dad being a halfa..."

"Continue please." Sam asked.

"Right." Danny leaned against his dresser as he did as asked, "Vlad killed Dad, Mom threw Vlad into the Ghost Zone and Clockwork reset it." He leaned down, letting his bangs cover his face. "This Vlad's one hundred percent human and caring a grudge on me for destroying his happy dairy life style."

"And he doesn't care about his image here." Jazz realized, getting stairs from the three getting her to clarify. "He doesn't have anything to lose here."

"This may sound crazy, but wouldn't the Vlad here want to stop him?" Tucker asked. "I mean, I hate the man as much as anyone else in this room but he does have a reputation to keep."

Danny cracked his jaw as his eyebrows knitted together. As much as he hated the fruit loop, Tucker did have a point. He looked back at his friends as he created the rings around his waist to go ghost. "You three keep Vlad away from my parents. I know he still likes a good game of chess so he'll give me time to make a move." Danny floated a foot off the ground. "I'll see what our Vlad can do."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Vlad sipped his tea, listening to the sounds of footsteps above him. He wished he could hear their conversation, but a good player in any game allows for the opponent to make a move.

"I swear, Maddie, I didn't touch the burner this time." Jack's voice radiated from the kitchen as the two headed back to the living room.

"Where's Jazz?" Maddie asked, taking in the sight of the almost empty room.

So that's the daughter's name. "Upstairs. Daniel and his friends arrived." Vlad explained, noticing the pacing to stop.

Maddie nodded, picking up the device she had dropped in the hurry to save their house. She sat back down on the sofa only to bounce a bit as Jack plopped down next to her.

Vlad sighed as he watched her go back to working on the device. Even if she was plumper here then she was in his universe, she was still beautiful. _How did Solomon describe it? _Vlad thought to himself as he studied her. _'Graceful legs like jewels, the work of a craftsman's hand. Waist as a mound of wheat encircled by lilies, and her breasts like two fawns.' People today don't understand how those lines were meant to be understood. _Vlad shook his head to clear it. If he wanted Maddie back he had to get rid of all that didn't belong.

"Maddie, Jack." Vlad started, sitting down his now empty cup. He looked up at them to make sure he had their attention. "I didn't want to say this when the children were around but…" he paused, wanting to make them believe he was trying to word it correctly. "I think your children are trying to harbor Phantom."

"What?!" Jack exclaimed, almost stabbing himself in the thumb with his needle.

"That's preposterous." Maddie defended.

"Is it?" Vlad smiled. He was never going to tell them the truth. There was too great a chance that they would except Daniel for the freak that he was. He hoped he remembered the tests he had helped out with when Jack had first gotten his ghost powers. "Any wonder why your ghost hunting technology always locks onto your son and loses Phantom?" He smiled to himself as that got worried looks to grow of their faces. "From what I understand, your son is letting Phantom hide within his body.'

Maddie's brows increased, showing she was thinking through what he had said. "That would explain more than just all the equipment…"

"How could he?" Jack asked.

Vlad heard movement upstairs and the sound of a door opening, getting him to quickly add, "Let's not inform them we know. Not until we have a plan."

Maddie nodded her head as three teens walked down the stairs, Daniel missing from the group. "Where's Danny?" she asked, trying to sound normal but failing.

"He's… uh… working on homework." The African American lied.

"Actually, we're working on a school project and were assigned to do it on you, Mr. Masters." The girl added, looking at him as if studying a relic. "Since you are mayor and all."

Mayor? Well, the Vlad Masters here has been busy. "Sure, what would you like to know?" Vlad asked, the part in the back of his mind reminding him once again how different the two Masters were.

"You three sit down." Maddie ordered, taking her equipment with her as she stood up. "Jack."

Jack sighed, putting his needle point back in the couch as he got up and followed the woman out to the family room on the other side of the stairs. If Vlad remembered the layout of the house correctly, the family room lead to what should be a dining room, through obviously not used since they ate in the kitchen, and then the kitchen. Most likely they were going to try and locate Phantom to prove him wrong.

Vlad watched as the two younger ones took the sofa and Jazz, which had to be short for Jasmine, sat in the chair she had been sitting in earlier. She picked up her book from the coffee table and placed it in her lap.

"Mayor?" Vlad asked after enough time passed that Jack and Maddie would be out of ear shot. He laughed quickly at the thought. "Here I am, a hater of politics and yet the mayor."

"The result of a prank war between you and Danny." The girl drowned quickly as if wanting to explain but didn't want to give away too much information to the enemy. Well played so far.

"So what are you stalling for?" Vlad asked, sitting back in the chair as he crossed his legs. "Our Daniel being arena boy at the moment?"

"We're just keeping you away from Mom and Dad." Jasmine informed, gaining an involuntary sneer from Vlad.

Vlad caught himself, turning his head away from the daughter. He looked down at the wedding band still on his finger ad clenched that hand in a fist.

"So how did you become the Wisconsin Dairy king?" the girl asked, her eyes wide as Maddie and Jack could be heard rummaging in the kitchen.

"I inherited the title and castle from my uncle, actually." Vlad said, playing along and keeping his voice pleasant.

"Really?" Jasmine asked, surprised.

"Yes, what's so surprising about that?" Vlad asked, seeing Daniel's two friends held similar faces.

"Nothing." The African American shrugged his shoulders. "We always thought you bought it."

An alarm stopped their conversation, red hazard lights filling the room.

"Ghost!" Jack cried only for the two adults to run out of the house and the screech of tires to fill the air. As they left, the alarm turned itself off.

"Alright Daniel, what is this all-"

Vlad turned to face the door only to stop short. There standing in the doorway was another Vladimir Masters. He stood up to be eyelevel with the man.

"Well, I have to admit, Daniel, when you told me there was another me at your house, I didn't believe you." Vladimir said.

Daniel walked in behind the man and closed the door behind him. "Then why did you come here?"

Vladimir looked at the child with a duh expression.

"So this is your plan?" Vlad asked, looking at the child.

"I gotta do something." Daniel admitted.

"And so must I." Vladimir sighed, turning back towards the man. "The Box Ghost won't keep them two busy for long."

Before Vlad's eyes, the man in front of him transformed into a ghost that looked similar to Jack's ghost half. The ghost became a shimmering blue before the man blacked out.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"So what are we going to do with him?"

Vlad slowly opened his eyes, finding himself face first on the floor of somewhere cold and blue. He rolled over, finding his hands bound behind his back. Above him floated gears and pendulums, like a clock? He looked around as he struggled to a sitting position and noticed Vladimir and Daniel over by a ghost with a staff in his hand. The sister and two friends were eyeing the Vladimir with what looked to be contentment.

"Incineration?" Vladimir's voice answered.

"Vlad!?" Daniel exclaimed, stepping back. "He's still you."

"I am not him!" Vlad spat out, getting the six's attention towards him. "Who in their right mind would want to be a ghost human hybrid?"

"So you'd prefer the incineration?" the ghost with a staff asked as it floated over and changed its form to that of a child.

"No, I just don't want to be told I'm the same as him." Vlad pointed out, throwing his head over towards the man that looked like him. "Ghosts are disgusting and shouldn't exist. You add the existence of hybrid-"

"Look, we get it." Daniel interrupted, walking over to the man still on the floor. "You hate ghosts." He looked over at the child that now turned to an old man and asked, "Well, Clockwork, he's technically yours."

"Right." Clockwork nodded his head before pointing his staff at Vlad and using his powers to raise the man to his feet.

Even though this was a ghost, Vlad still politely nodded his head towards Clockwork as he found his balance.

"Vladimir Masters, if you can't get rid of your hatred towards ghosts, you will cease to exist." Clockwork said, looking the man in the eyes. "I can allow your time line to exist, playing parallel to the original line. I can send you back to just after Jack's accident so you can start over again."

"Clockwork!" Daniel interjected, surprised.

Clockwork made no motion towards the boy but continued to stare down the man. "If you make the correct choices in life the second time around, you'll live until your elder ages."

"And if I don't?" Vlad couldn't help but ask. "Didn't you ever think about the fact that I liked it the way it was before Daniel ever appeared?"

"If Danny hadn't appeared, you'd be like this Vlad." Clockwork motioned towards the vampiric ghost floating a few feet away with his arms crossed over his chest in disgust. "Danny pushed you out of the way of the proto-portal's blast."

Vlad's mind stalled for a moment. Daniel had saved him?

"To answer your question, I'll terminate the time line." Clockwork stated, getting Vlad back to the world in front of him.

"And what would become of me?"

"As I said earlier, you will cease to exist." Clockwork repeated himself.

A second chance is better than none at all, Vlad realized, dropping his head down. He looked back at Clockwork, knowing things were going to be difficult to say the least. "Alright, I'll do it."

Clockwork smiled, knowing that was going to be his answer and probably more than the man could even think to know. The ghost pointed his staff towards the side and created a green swirling portal. He looked back at Vlad as the binds disappeared from his hands.

Vlad rubbed his wrists, glad to be free. He took one more look around the room of the ghost's castle taking in his alternant universe self the longest. He turned towards the portal and with a deep breath, plunged in not knowing for certain if Clockwork told the truth or if he was just plunging into death.

"Vlad, you…you saved my life."

Vlad opened his eyes, finding himself straddling a twenty some year old Maddie.

"I did, didn't I?" Vlad asked, trying to remember the accounts of that fateful day more than twenty years ago.

…

Danny turned away from the portal acting as a screen to look at his guardian. "So how long does this go one?" he asked, throwing his thumb towards the portal as the events played on.

"Only time can tell." Clockwork smiled, gaining a joking sneer from the child.

The End

AN: for those of you wondering about the loose end about human Vlad telling the Fenton's about Danny harboring Phantom, don't worry. That plot comes back in a story I'm working on right now called Glowing Green.

Danny: I though you said you didn't like doing stories that continued over into another story.

AN: I don't, but that was the only way I could get around the loose end. I hate them.


End file.
